On good days, American high jumper Jamie Nieto can shuffle 130 steps without a cane or walker.

It’s an important distance — about the length from the altar to the church door. His vow: Make it all the way, under his own power, when he’s married on July 22.

The two-time Olympian is recovering from a spinal cord injury he suffered on a misjudged backflip in April 2016. The accident initially left him with no feeling in his hands and feet. Walking? Doctors couldn’t predict if he would take more than a few steps — or any at all. Continue Reading »

The human body is a marvel. Somehow it ended up with the ability to cool itself via sweat, but when you have a spinal cord injury this ability is turned off. Many are shocked to hear this, but when you have a spinal cord injury, you really can no longer sweat. Not surprisingly, this can cause some pretty gnarly health scares.

I’ve gone through all the heat-induced scary scenarios you can imagine as a result, and as the years march on I’ve noticed my temperature regulation is worse than ever (if that is even possible; oh quadriplegia you tricky minx). But I guess this is what comes with aging. Something to look forward to for all you kiddos out there. Continue Reading »

A spinal cord injury means that the spinal cord of a person is damaged and the person cannot do things that they otherwise would have been able to do such as walking (mobility) or feeling in certain parts of their body.

The spinal cord of a person is roughly 50 centimetres in length and it spreads from the bottom of the brain to about the waist. It is a key bundle of nerves that facilitates communication between the brain and the rest of the body, giving instructions to initiate actions such as movement. It consists of 31 pairs of nerves which connect it to different parts of the body, with the nerves that are on the left connecting with the left side of the body and those that are on the right connecting with the right side of the body (WHO, 2010). Continue Reading »

Chelsie Hill’s dream was to be a dancer and it was evident since she was little that the California native had a promising future ahead of her as a dancer. She won awards at state and national dance competitions and by high school graduation her future in dancing looked very promising. Continue Reading »

In the summer of 2005 just graduated Willmar Cardinal basketball player Pete Grahn was enjoying a swim in Green Lake with friends when his life changed for good.

It was an exciting time for Pete, he had graduated from Willmar senior high and was headed for Minnesota State- Moorhead to play college basketball and get his degree in biology. Pete was a smooth shooting forward who was very athletic and according to his coach Steve Grove “really worked hard to make himself into great Willmar Cardinal. He had a sweet left hand jump shot, loved to shoot the three’s.” Continue Reading »

The internet can be a gift and a curse at the same time. It offers the potential of providing people with some very valuable information, but also allows for a lot of misconstrued and ill-informed ideas. This has created quite a large amount of confusion and that can be very dangerous for those seeking medical advice.

With the many assumptions that have been made about those who have experienced spinal cord injuries, it is extremely important that these ideas aren’t interpreted as facts. Families who are now learning to cope with SCI already have a lot to consider and do not need these false claims guiding them down the wrong path. Continue Reading »

One Saturday, as usual, I drove to the National Spinal Injury Hospital (NSIH). When I got there, I requested a gentleman, whom I later learnt was a brother to one of the patients, to help me get on my wheelchair. He was amazed!

“So you drive? And you cannot walk? Yet you’re such warm and joyful person,” he said to me.

“Oh, yes,” I replied, “And I was once a patient here, for seven months.”

His brother, just like me, was involved in a grisly road accident and suffered spinal cord injury. Like any other new-found friend he wanted to know more about me and my injury, and why it did not seem to be an issue. Continue Reading »